Adjustable governor for accelerators



Jan. 19, 1954 s. s. POKORNY ADJUSTABLE GOVERNOR FOR ACCELERATORS Filed Sept. 14, 1951 Patented Jan. 19, 1954 STATES PATENT OFFICE ADJUSTABLE GOVERNOR FOR AGGELERATORS Stephen ?.:Il"oliorny, Maquoketa, Iowa. glpplicatinniseptember 14, I951, Serial No. 246,613

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invention-relates to governorswfor accelerfato'i'ts on automotive vehicles. 7

J'M'a'ny persons when, engaged in driving amotor vehicle for long periods at a, time, experience "a fatigue ands'tifinessin their legs and particularly in the right leg; which used to hold the accelerator pedal -depressed, and consequently cannot bereste'd'nr'iiexed elsewhere on the floorboard'without interrupting thesmooth operation of the-vehicle. 7 Hand controlled acceleratorscan be set so the foot- 'is-notused, but. in case of a sudden need ,touse either the brake or accelerator pedal, the hand eontrol continues the motor at thfe'set speed, nnless'm'anually released. 'l his; requires: action independently of the foot action and inease of emergency-is' verylikely to be overlmiked; I I

addition to tlie element 'ofi atigue from nag periodsof driving; some persons when so "engaged *findfthemslves unable to. hoidth :ac-

eelerator; pedal at fafSBl? position; They are "in:- clinedtovary" the foot"- pressure onjthe'pedal at times s that -on=a-1on *unobs'tructed drive thecar-will devlep' aslight rocking inotion' from the intermittent depression; and release or; the

accelerator, even them-1,. it" be'wery slight.

It is therefore th general aim 'of'my irweni- :tiiqn to provide "amanually operated means holding the foot accelerator of Vamotor vehicle at "any speedwhi'ch the operator-selects, so that {once this controlflis set, the vehicle motor will operate-at a cor'xstant speed-"without"use o'fthe foot' acceleiator pedal, p v

A further obj ect "of" invention itb pro vide a governor for an accelerator of thejfabove class-that is "controllable from-"theseating compartment 'dfa vellzicle. V

Still another" objectof'this'ihventiondsto provide *anaccelerator -"governor as aboveisetfifiorth that isoperativlsr iajss o'ciated "withboth" thefodt accelerator andibbfifblftkfp'edal of an automotbile so that once has been set fto lioldithej 'ac; *celerator pedal at anysetspeed, the dpb iaftion 0f" it h if l b' m r p 0 me 'i bd b l ke "ll immediately release*thisgoverhofffohii'cp eration; p o, r a

jects will be-appar n 1 These and; other i those-"skilled"in the art; I I V "Myinver'ition consists in thetqnstnictipn, ar rangement; andwombinatiom'o'f thewarious p arts 2 are attained as hereinaiter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

' Fig. 1 IS a perspective view OI the interior of an"automob1leshow1ng the steering wheel and column, brake and clutch pedal, and foot accelerator and showing my invention associated therewith,

big; 2 is an enlarged front view of this governor,

l 'l'g. 3 is a top plan view of my invention, Fig. 4 is a side view of this device-snowing the foot accelerator in dotted lines, and

Fig. 5 is a view partly in section taken on the line of Fig. 3 and showing t e foot brake D3031 in dotted lines. 7 Referring to the drawings I have shown the interior or an automobilen front of the drivers seat with the dashboard-I'll, noor' board H, steering column 12, foot brake pedal 13, clutch pedal It and foot acce1erator15 located in a conven- 'tional arrangement in order to more iully illustrate the use of my invention. The clutch pedal 1 1 which is absent on' vehicles with automotive transmissions is immaterial to the operation of my accelerator control; I

The numerals It "and I! designate two elonfgated hollow housings, preferably of like size and length, that are arranged with their longitudinal axes para1lel"'(Fig. 3)) and are secured together by the clamp'lii'. This clamp extends outwardly fromthe housing, .ILG ;(Fig. l) and the free ,end. thereof "is adapted to be detachably secured to the steering column 1210f a; motor vehicle. Thus arranged, the housings f6 and I1 extend in the same 'generalplane as the steering column but *areconside'rably shorter than the column l2. A bar or plate member t9 joins the forward ends of 'thehousings' I6 and H on the under side thereof and servesto support a hinge Ziiflwhich has one side securedthereto as shown in Figs. .4.and.5. .The other portionof the hinge is freely movablein-a vertical are and will normally rest in a.-=downward positiondue to gravity. .A flexible: member such as galcable :or the like is secured at one end to the forward edgewofithe mol vable {portion :ofvthe :hinge and" its other end extendsIto-a .pointvconvenient -to the vehicle top erator and is provide'd with a knob handle 22. Preferably theintermediate portion of the-cable i 'l is reeved over-a pu1ley'23 that issecured to thesteering column 1'2 and is supported near the knob?! by'the eye bracket- 24 that is also se of the device, whereby the objects contemplated '55 ciired to the-cdlumn' l 'lasshown in Fig.1. Thus follows.

arranged, a rearward pull on the handle 22 will pull the free portion of the hinge upwardly.

An elongated operating rod or bar 25 has a notch 26 at one end. The notch is adapted to frictionally embrace the forward edge of the foot accelerator l and the other end of this bar 25 extends into the housing I1 and is slidable therein. This bar should be of sufficient length so that when the pedal. |5,iS fully depressed, it will not be withdrawn from the housing. A second operating rod or bar 21 has a notch 28 similarly located as notch 26 and is arranged on the foot-1v brake pedal l3 and within the housing It in the same manner as described for the bar 25. is to be observed that while I have shown the bars 25 and 21 as frictionally .secureddirectly.

to the pedals l3 and respectively, that this is but one illustration of describing my invention and that any suitable method of operatively associating these operating bars with the accelerator and foot brake would not change the principle of my invention. Also asis clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3, the upper portion of rod 21 is larger than the portion below housing l6 when the brake pedal is in the normal or up position.

In operation, my invention will function as The foot accelerator I5 is depressed in its usual manner and this will cause the rod 25 to move downwardly through the housing l1. With the vehicle operating at a speed that the operator wishes to maintain for an extended period, the knob 22 is pulled upwardly. This raises the movable portion of the hinge so that the free end thereof will wedge or bindagainst the underside of rod 25. The hinge is also placed in the path of a longitudinal projection of the upper portion of rod 21. In this position, the usual return spring on the accelerator I5 is inadequate to overcome the holding force of the wedge action described and consequently the pedal 55 will remain at the position it had when the hinge was wedged. The operator is then free to place his right leg in the most comfortable position.

' The release of this control on the accelerator is accomplished by depressing either the accelerator or the'foot pedal. Since the hinge is wedged against bar 25 or may be struck by bar 21, a downward and forward movement of either bar will force the hinge 20 out of its wedged position (Fig. 5) and as the accelerator returns spring is the only force holding the hinge and rod 25 in engagement with each other, gravity will cause the hinge to drop so as not to interfere with the free movement of either bar. This makes it possible to apply the brakes without any independent action required relative to the accelerator for as soon as the brake is depressed, the larger portion of rod 21 strikes the hinge and it falls free and the accelerator pedal automatically returns to its off position. Likewise, if greater acceleration is desired as for passing another vehicle, the depression of the accelerator releases this governor and it will not function further until the knob 22 is again pulled as described.

The effect of this invention is to add considerably to the comfort of the vehicle operator on long drives as it is no longer necessary to keep the right leg constantly on the accelerator. And even though the accelerator is in a controlled position, the manner of its release eliminates the obvious disadvantages that would result if the usual hand accelerator were set and not 4 manually released in case of an emergency. The application of brakes or a further depression of the foot accelerator is more or less an instinctive act for the ordinary driver and since either of these acts releases my governor, its operation requires no attention other than initially placing it in operation when desired.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my a'djustable'governor for accelerators without" departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim:

1. In an adjustable governor for accelerators on vehicles having accelerator and brake pedals, a frame" adapted to being secured to a vehicle,

va pair of rods slidably mounted in said frame, a

hinge secured to said frame below said rods, means for securing one of said rods to the accelerator pedal of a vehicle, means for securing the other of said rods to the brake pedal of a vehicle, and a manual means for hingedly moving a portion of said hinge into frictional engagement with the one of said rods that is adapted to being secured to the accelerator pedal of a vehicle; said hinge being otherwise free to fall away from said rods under the influence of gravity; said hinge having its hinge point closer to said rods than the length of the free hinge side. 7

2. In an adjustable governor for accelerators on vehicles having accelerator and brake pedals, a frame adapted to being secured to a vehicle, pair of rods slidably mounted in said frame and being adjacent to each other at at least one point of each of their respective lengths, a hinge secured by one of its sides to said frame at a point adjacent to the point on said rods where they are adjacent to each other; the free side of said hinge when moved 'hingedly, upwardly engaging at'least one of said rods at an angle whereby further movement of said one rod after it engages said hinge free edge is restricted by the wedging action of said hinge, means for securing said one rod to the accelerator pedal of a vehicle, means 'for securing the other of said rods to the brake pedal on a vehicle, a manual means for hingedlymoving the free side of said hinge upwardly] and into contact with said one rod, and means on'the other of said rods for engaging said hinge to push'it away from said one rod. 1

3. In an adjustable governor foraccelerators on vehicles having "springloaded accelerator and brake pedals, a frame adapted to being secured to a vehicle, a pair of substantially straight rods slidably mounted in said frame, a means for operatively securing one of said rods tothe vehicle brake pedal, a means for operatively securing the other of said rods to the accelerator pedal of said vehicle, a hinge secured to said frame below said rods by one of its sides; the hinge point of said hinge being closer to the bottom of the other of said rods than the distance from the hinge point tothefree edge cf the other side of said hinge, and a manual-means for raising the free side of said hinge to bring its edge into contact with the other of said rods; the free side of said hinge being held in engagement with said other rod by their frictional engagement with each other and the spring load of the accelerator pedal to which it issecured, I v

4. In an adjustable governor for accelerators on vehicles having accelerator and brake pedals, a frame adapted to being secured to a vehicle, a pair of substantially straight rods slidably mounted in said frame, a means for operatively securing one of said rods to the vehicle brake pedal, a means for operatively securing the other of said rods to the accelerator pedal of said vehicle, a hinge secured to said frame below said rods by one of its sides; the hinge point of said hinge being closer to the bottom of the other of said rods than the distance from the hinge point to the free edge of theother side of said hinge, a shoulder on said one rod secured to said one rod at a point adjacent to said hinge when said one rod is in the position it assumes when it is secured to a vehicle brake pedal that is in the off position.

5. In an adjustable governor for accelerators on vehicles having accelerator and brake pedals, a frame adapted to being secured to a vehicle, pair of rods slidably mounted in said frame and being adjacent to each other at least one point of each of their respective lengths, a hinge 'secured by one of its sides to said frame at a point adjacent to the point on said rods where they are adjacent to each other; the free side of said hinge when moved hingedly, engaging at least one of said rods at an angle whereby further movement of said one rod after it engages said hinge free edge is restricted by the wedging action of said 6 hinge, means for securing said one rod to the accelerator pedal of a vehicle, means for securing the other of said rods to the brake pedal on a vehicle, a manual means for hingedly moving the free side of said hinge into contact with said one rod, and means on the other of said rods for engaging said hinge to push it away from said one rod; the hinge point of said hinge being positioned as to be arranged at a higher level than the edge of the free side of said hinge when it is engaged in a wedging action with said one rod.

STEPHEN S. POKORNY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 980,008 Romines Dec. 27, 1910 1,372,456 Roetter Mar. 22, 1921 1,404,785 Michon Jan. 31, 1922 1,584,013 Collins May 11, 1926 1,681,380 Taman Aug. 21, 1928 1,707,113 Christ Mar. 26, 1929 1,906,366 Burns May 2, 1933 2,033,821 Ellery Mar. 10, 1936 2,165,897 Liley July 11, 1939 2,167,843 Johnson Aug. 1, 1939 2,258,007 Gonderman Oct. 7, 1941 2,318,931 Diver May 11, 1943 2,568,481 Bianca Sept. 18, 1951 

